“Reply to Nine Firmaments Palace. The rewards need to be doubled and the time extended to three months,” the middle-aged man in grey robes said.

“A young hero who charged his way from the Northern Plains. I want to meet him.” The beautiful female cultivator’s words were like flowers. She possessed a tall and voluptuous body, and the exquisite body armour she wore made her figure even more sensual.

“Very well. If it’s you, we might be able to do this faster. I do have one request. Do your best to capture him alive. Note that the information we have on Chen Feng points towards him being quite an extraordinary character. He might even possess a Dao artefact.”

“Don’t worry. I know my limits.”

Nine Firmaments Palace.

The Sect Master, Duan Lang, had finally emerged from his cultivation retreat. His cultivation base had risen greatly. However, it seemed his temper had risen greatly as well. On this very day, he was throwing a fit within one of Nine Firmaments Palace’s chambers.

Bang!

A precious table made from spiritual wood was smashed to smithereens. The group of cultivators waiting on him wore contorted faces. However, none of them dared to say a thing. They feared that the Sect Master would turn his wrath towards them.

“I was only in cultivation retreat for a short while. And yet, so many things have happened! A minor disciple from Extreme Celestial Sect could actually kill off so many of our men? Which one of you can explain this to me?” Duan Lang said, his gaze sweeping through all the cultivators present. In the face of the Sect Master’s gaze, all of them lowered their heads, not daring to look him in the eye.

“Sect Master. This Chen Feng possesses Sacred artefacts as a means of protection,” an elder forced himself to speak up.

“Sacred artefacts? Do we not have Sacred artefacts of our own?!” Duan Lang said, glaring at the elder. The elder, a half-step Human Immortal, immediately felt his body turning cold. He nearly fell down as a result. Even so, he continued, “According to the information we have obtained, there should be an expert helping Chen Feng. Add the fact that he possesses magic treasures as a means of protection, he was thus able to escape all our sect’s attempts to hunt him down.”

“Yes, Sect Master. This Chen Feng is truly not to be underestimated. We have only just received news from Killer Palace. Their men actually failed to kill him as well,” another fellow said.

“Humph! We, Nine Firmaments Palace, are a top-level existence in the Northern Plains. To think that we would be hiring assassins. If news of this were to spread out, how will the other sects view us?” Duan Lang said icily.

“Sect Master, Chen Feng has entered the Twospan Mountain Range. He will soon be entering the Central Plains. Our forces cannot reach that far. All we can do is to rely on some other forces. Additionally, we cannot possibly mobilize Human Immortals directly for the sake of a minor disciple from Extreme Celestial Sect. That is why this matter could escalate to such a point.”

“Yes. Sect Master, please calm down. We will definitely be killing off this Chen Feng soon.”

“Since he is a disciple of Extreme Celestial Sect, we will have to put some more pressure on Extreme Celestial Sect. I will leave that to you fellows. As for Chen Feng, it would be for the best if our own men can capture him. Now, you are to immediately open up the pocket dimension in the back mountain. Select a few men and send them to the Central Plains. If Killer Palace could succeed in killing off Chen Feng, then consider him lucky. If Killer Palace could not succeed, then have our men capture him alive. Bring him back and we’ll slowly interrogate him.” A chilling light flashed across Duan Lang’s eyes.

“Sect Master, should we join forces with Purple Firmaments Palace and Transcendent Firmaments Palace? They had lost quite a number of disciples to Chen Feng.”

“Very well. I will leave this matter to you fellows. I managed to gleam something in my recent cultivation retreat. I want to venture to some danger zones in outer space to find some meteorite iron to forge a magic treasure,” said Duan Lang, who waved his hand to break space open. Next, he stepped into the crack.

“The Sect Master’s cultivation base has improved. Could he be on the verge of breaking through to the high-level Human Immortal stage?” the Deputy Sect Master said in excitement.

…

Inside a small cave within the Twospan Mountain Range was a small, nine-level pagoda tower. Strands of worldly spiritual energy kept converging into the cave and all of them were devoured by the small tower.

Chen Feng was inside the tower. He stood before the Sky Meteorite, studying it to cultivate himself. The surface of the massive meteorite was filled with the spiritual and martial imprints left behind by countless Human Immortals. By cultivating here, his cultivation rate was much faster than what he could normally achieve by bitterly cultivating alone. More importantly, it would save him from many detours [1].

After entering a state of cultivation, Chen Feng forgot everything that was happening outside. He kept immersing himself in the process of studying and cultivating. Occasionally, he would gain clarity and enter a state of enlightenment for a long time.

“Sigh! Although this is an ancient cultivation world, it’s of too little help for me. Unless I can refine this world’s world essence, it will not be of much help. With this rate of energy absorption, restoring myself to the Dao-tier will be incredibly difficult.” Tower sighed and stopped absorbing the surrounding streams of energy.

“Eh, the imprint here was left behind by a senior who cultivates the power of darkness!” Chen Feng’s eyes lit up. Next, his pupils shone with dark light. The Dark acupoint inside his body surged and a black energy seeped out from Chen Feng’s body, enveloping him completely. All that was left were his eyes, which continued to shine with the dark light aimed at the dark-type imprint on the Sky Meteorite.

The concept of time did not exist for the pursuit of cultivation. Thus, Chen Feng spent half a year standing before the Sky Meteorite. During that time, Chen Feng did not eat anything. He did not even take a single medicinal pill. As the Longevity Tower was filled with thick spiritual energy, all Chen Feng needed to do was to casually breathe in and out to strengthen his body.

During that six months, a storm swept through Nine Firmaments Palace and Killer Palace. Previously, Killer Palace had stated that they would find Chen Feng in three months. Not to mention, they had also accepted the rewards from Nine Firmaments Palace. However, six months had passed by. Despite having scoured through the entire Twospan Mountain Range, Killer Palace had failed to find any sign of Chen Feng. This displeased Nine Firmaments Palace greatly.

That was especially so after a group of formidable cultivators emerged from the pocket dimensions of the three Palaces. They came to Killer Palace and put on a haughty act while firing out barbed words at them. They showed Killer Palace no respect at all. On the other hand, the Killer Palace had failed to accomplish their mission. Thus, they were incapable of saying anything despite feeling vexed about it. Due to their vexed feelings, they poured in more efforts to search for Chen Feng.

“Since you fellows from Killer Palace cannot find Chen Feng, do not blame us for taking action. If we end up finding him first… humph, not only do you fellows have to compensate us double the amount, even your business will be affected.” After saying that, the cultivator who had emerged from Nine Firmaments Palace’s pocket dimension, left with a sneer on his face.

“What’s so great about them? The three Palaces have joined forces in an attempt to kill Chen Feng for years only to fail. Now, they want to show off in front of our Killer Palace? If not for the fact that we have accepted the mission, I would have killed them because of how they were behaving earlier.”

“What do we do now? We have already searched through the Twospan Mountain Range, but we are still incapable of finding a single trace of Chen Feng. Did he leave already?”

“Definitely not. He must be hiding in some hidden spot in the Twospan Mountain Range to cultivate himself. If he had made his way to the Central Plains, we would have gotten word about it.”

“This is now a money-losing business. In order for this to not affect our reputation, we must find Chen Feng, regardless of what happens.”

…

“Hu!” Chen Feng inhaled deeply, his eyes flashing with dark luminescence before returning to normalcy.

With my current level of strength, overcoming Lightning Tribulation should not be an issue. However, I will gather my strength for a while longer. When the time comes, I will be able to overcome several Lightning Tribulations at once.

Originally, Chen Feng had wanted to fuse his nine sea of wisdom layers and undergo his Lightning Tribulation as part of his cultivation session. However, Tower had advised him against it. At the same time, Tower also sent Chen Feng a secret technique, which allowed him to suppress his aura. It would allow him to undergo Lightning Tribulation after he was even stronger.

“I have been cultivating for a long time now. It’s about time I head out.” Chen Feng’s figure flashed and he flew out from the Longevity Tower. However, he promptly sensed someone in the process of tearing down the restrictive magic arrays that he had set up outside the cave.

Someone is coming. Chen Feng’s eyes shone and his gaze pierced through the layers of magic arrays, allowing him to clearly see what was happening outside.

A voluptuous and beautiful female cultivator was wielding a cyan-coloured round bead as she moved forward. The cyan-coloured bead kept releasing rays of cyan luminescence. The ceaselessly flashing rays of the cyan luminescence broke the restrictive magic arrays that he had set up.

A half-step Human Immortal and a Spiritual Arraybreaker Bead! Chen Feng was surprised.

Soon enough, all of the barriers that Chen Feng had set up outside were broken. After that, the beautiful female cultivator walked in, a smile on her face. When she saw Chen Feng inside, however, a glint of iciness flashed across her eyes. It was deeply hidden. However, Chen Feng had still managed to catch it.

“Oh, there is someone inside? I am sorry. I will go away now.” The beautiful female cultivator’s face took on a look of surprise. It was as though she had never thought that there might be someone inside the cave.

Chen Feng did not say anything. Instead, he simply watched calmly as the woman left. After that, Chen Feng walked out from the cave to see that the female cultivator was waiting for him. He maintained a calm expression and continued walking forward.

“He he! Fellow friend, please wait.” Seeing Chen Feng ignore her, the female cultivator grew irritated.

“Is something wrong?” Chen Feng asked coolly.

“I was careless earlier. I didn’t know that there is someone practicing cultivation inside the cave. I had simply wanted to find a quiet place. When I saw that there were restrictive magic arrays there, I had assumed that some seniors had left them there and that there might be some fortune to be found.” The female cultivator’s eyes gleamed and her smile was as beautiful as a flower. Her body, which gave off the scent of a beauty, was exceedingly charming and flirtatious. She was a beauty capable of enrapturing all living beings.

Chen Feng secretly scoffed. This woman is full of crap. She is obviously hunting me. For her to not be attacking me now, I wonder what she is planning?

“I don’t mind. Goodbye, then,” Chen Feng said nonchalantly as he maintained his forward stride. Each stride took him several zhang forward and it did not take long before his figure was over 100 zhang away from the female cultivator.

As expected, the female cultivator followed, moving side by side with Chen Feng. At the same time, she cast a hypnotic smile at Chen Feng. Seemingly having cultivated a glamour technique, she spoke with a charming voice, “This little girl’s name is Ling Xian’er. May I know your name and where you are from?”

Oyyy, you are clearly a half-step Human Immortal! How can you be young? To think that you can still call yourself a little girl! Still, this woman’s cultivation level is very high. Additionally, she has cultivated a glamour technique. The question is, where is she from? Chen Feng thought.

“We can’t even be considered as acquainted strangers. Why bother exchanging names?” Chen Feng said coolly as he continued to ignore her.

By then, the female cultivator was already enraged to the point of gnashing her teeth. However, the smile on her face never faded. Instead, she leisurely followed Chen Feng.

Chen Feng’s brows furrowed slightly. This female cultivator was definitely harbouring ill intentions in following him. However, as she was not attacking him, he felt it inappropriate to be attacking her. As he was considering how to shake her off, the depths of his pupils flared with light and he halted his steps.

1 The Sky Meteorite first appeared in Chapter 453 in the Starsea Region. Tower looted the Sky Meteorite in Chapter 466. ↩

1 zhang = 3.333 m